Politics
Sustainable Youth Engagement: Rivers Dep Gov’s Example
Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. Mrs. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, DSSRS is a humane and God-fearing leader and mentor who has a burning desire to lift young people out of poverty and misery.
With a rare combination of beauty and brains, her milk of human kindness which is non-discriminatory has given succour to lots of people across the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State, in the form of mentorship, scholarships to indigent students, funding of Start-ups for young people in ICT, mentoring of girls in Science, Mathematics and Technology, the list is endless.
However, in consonance with the adage that says charity begins at home, the Deputy Governor, has written her name in gold, in the three Kalabari speaking Local Government Areas, of Asari Toru, Akuku Toru and the mother Local Government Area, Degema, through the establishment of a Cottage Industry at the Degema Consulate.
It would be recalled that Dr. Banigo had earlier brought back Banking Operations in Degema which a lot of people thought was impossible in the past. This singular feat greatly improved commercial activities in the area to the delight of the citizenry.
She also facilitated the establishment of an Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force which has helped to improve the protection of lives and property in the Kalabari and the Emohua axis of the State.
This Jewel of the Niger Delta who says she adopted Skills Acquisition Programme as a deliberate strategy to keep the youths gainfully engaged and reduce social vices in the society, fully funded a one month special skills acquisition programme in January, 2020 where over three thousand five hundred youths (3,500) drawn from the old Degema Local Government Area benefitted in collaboration with Redemption Ministries who added a Christian religious component to the training. At the end of the programme youths did not only acquire skills but were led to Christ .
According to Dr. Banigo, beneficiaries of the programme are expected to be self-reliant with intent to contribute meaningfully to the micro- economy of their respective Local Government Areas and the State at large.
As a follow up, another set of trainees made up of one thousand one hundred and sixty youths (1, 160) also benefitted in collaboration with Region 5 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
She empowered beneficiaries with starter packs to enable them set up their businesses, she also encouraged them to set up co-operative societies to enable them access loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Bank of Industry, etc, to boost their businesses which she facilitated and signed as their guarantor. A good number of them have succeeded in carving a niche for themselves in their chosen skills set.
Mr Adokiye Omuaru a Master’s Degree holder who hitherto had no job was a beneficiary of the Deputy Governor’s free skills acquisition programme. He acquired shoe making skills and has since set up his own factory and is now an employer of labour.
Encouraged by Mr. Omuaru’s enthusiasm and commitment to expand his business, the Deputy Governor provided the funds to procure a generator set, various industrial machines, original leather and other shoe making accessories to enable him operate on a commercial scale.
Mr. Eze Abinami Sunday is a diligent and hardworking young man, who is determined to carve a nitche for himself in ICT but did not have the resources to fund his training. However, the Free Skills Acquisition Programme of Dr. (Mrs.) Banigo provided the rare privilege for him to get trained at no cost to him, and today, he has started earning a living from the skills and is also a trainer of other young people like him.
Miss Rasidu Tamunotomba Fakorede, hails from Bille in Degema Local Government Area. Prior to her admission into the Skills Acquisition Programme she had no skills and was jobless. However, she had a life line and succour when she enrolled into Her Excellency’s Skills Acquisition Programme. She ventured into tailoring and things have now turned around for good in her life.
As part of deliberate efforts to ensure that the youths continue to acquire skills to be self-reliant, the Harvard trained Public Health Physician, (Dr. Mrs.) Harry Banigo has set up a cottage industry in boat building and shoe making in Degema.
For continuity and sustainability, the Deputy Governor has committed huge financial resources to completely rehabilitate and upgrade facilities in the Degema Local Government Council to accommodate the Cottage Industry.
The complete makeover of the structures by the Deputy Governor with her personal resources underscores the importance she attaches to the project which is now a legacy project for posterity.
This human capital development project would no doubt lift thousands of people out of poverty that would ultimately outlive the tenure of Her Excellency, Dr. (Mrs.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo.
The Cottage Industry commenced operations on the 3rd of June, 2021. So far, a total of one hundred and twenty trainees have registered and are undergoing training. Seventy five of these trainees are for shoe making while forty five registered for boat building in the intensive programme which holds from 9am to 4 pm each day with theoretical and practical sessions.
The Deputy Governor is indeed a trail blazer when it comes to helping young people to succeed in life; she had always said her passion is to lift up young people from poverty. This she has continued to do whenever the need arises.
At a meeting with the Acting Regional Manager of the Bank of Industry (BOI) Mr. Pacqueens Irabor in Port Harcourt, on Friday 23rd October, 2020 Dr. Banigo said “we must lift up our young people and young adults out of poverty, financial, physical, spiritual and mental poverty. We want to give them the mind-set that they can do it”.
Dr. Banigo who is the Chairman of the Ease of Doing Business Council opined that a country that is not able to manufacture what they are using can never really develop which, according to her, is the bane of the nation.
She vowed to continue to encourage youths to be creative, using what the Almighty God has deposited in them, adding that the setting up of the Cottage Industry would engender the spirit of self-reliance in our youths.
“ It is not all about Government work and politics, they have so much that God has put in them that they can use for themselves and others, to be a blessing to their community and to be a blessing to others.” Dr. Banigo quipped.
Just like the Chinese proverb which says “teach a man how to eat fish he will eat but once, you teach a man how to catch a fish, he will eat for ever”, Her Excellency, the Deputy Governor, has taught the youths how to catch a fish, through the setting up of the cottage industry in boat building and shoe making in Degema. Of course this is apt because the people in the area are predominantly fisher men who also harvest sea food like periwinkles, oysters, clam, crabs etc, which makes the boats in very high demand as a critical asset.
The shoe making industry is also viable with a ready market as the people of the area are very fashionable with a rich cultural heritage which makes a high demand for quality shoes.
Dr. Banigo has done her part, it behoves on the youths to take advantage of this unique opportunity to better their lives. The ball is in their court.
Benebo is the Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
By: Owupele Benebo
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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